New Romantics | Hermione Granger Book IV

|49| Chapter Forty-Nine

F O R T Y  N I N E 

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Saffron was so confused, so angry, so hurt and most of all so terrified that she wasn't able to verbally or physically display a reaction other than to sit there in silence. She felt glued to her seat and on the verge of not just being stuck there for a long time, but wanting to be stuck there for a long time so she didn't have to face her older sister. Her older sister who was being applauded by the entire school as she made her way from the Ravenclaw table to the staff equivalent. Not many people in the hall were expecting that, but nobody was as blindsided as Saffron felt.

None of it made sense. Question upon question piled up in Saffron's mind but the one that reigned supreme was why? Why would Maya lie? Why would Maya lie now? Now that they were finally making progress in putting back together their heavily fractured relationship and even feeling some semblance, no matter how small, of trust between the pair of them. Why would Maya do that to her? 

It made no sense. But Saffron realised that things seldom did when it came to Maya. She had seen the way her older sister moved around her, trying to make her think that she always had their family as her priority but her actions had contradicted that time and time again. How did spending a large portion of her Summer with her friends support that statement that Maya made? How did lying about knowing one of their mothers best friends for almost half a decade show how much Maya loved them? Everything Maya did was supposed to protect them, but protect them from what? It appeared they needed protecting from their protector.

Saffron personally felt she needed protecting from her older sister as this had just been another stab to her heart and she didn't know how many more she was going to be able to take. 

Looking up only when she felt like she was able to move again, Saffron looked to the staff table just in time to see Maya's long hair vanish through the door as she made her way down to the other champions to await further instruction. It was only then that Saffron realised that Ron was speaking to her.

"You didn't tell us she was entering!" Ron exclaimed over the chatter enthusiastically. 

"Oh, yeah," said Saffron quickly, as her forehead began to prickle ever so slightly. She wanted to tell her friends the truth but restrained herself from doing so as Maya had embarrassed her beyond belief. How bad a sister was she going to look if she didn't know Maya was making such a big decision in entering the prestigious competition? So she lied through her teeth as the applause began to die down. "I didn't think she'd get it, so..."

When Saffron's eyes met Harrys, she knew that he wasn't buying what she was selling. He knew that something was seriously wrong. However, neither of them knew the extent of what was wrong when Professor Dumbledore attempted to conclude a ceremony that had no intention of concluding quite so quickly.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore beamed across the hall delightedly. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real--"

The man's voice cut off as the Goblet of Fire hadn't died down as expected and instead was glowing red again. The sparks coming out of it were the biggest yet and the flame that had carried the names were violent and raw. 

Saffron clasped her hand over her mouth fearfully when she saw that another piece of parchment had been flung out of it. Her mind didn't go to it being the Goblet malfunctioning or a traditional ending to the ceremony that Dumbledore had forgotten about or anything along those lines. Her mind went to one place as it looked as though some of her deepest yet given her past experiences, realistic, fears were coming to fruition.

Dumbledore caught the slip of paper and stared down at it. He looked as confused as everyone else was feeling until he read out:

"Harry Potter."

Saffron let out a frightened gasp and she was the only one to do so. As with the exception of her gasp, that echoed through the hall, there was an unnerving silence. Everyone was looking at Harry who looked just like Saffron had moments before when her sister had been called out. Only this time, nobody was clapping, nobody even looked happy. On the contrary, people looked furious and their silence only added further evidence to this being the case.

It was only at the staff table where people were actually doing something rather than standing there aimlessly. Professor McGonagall looked gobsmacked and was whispering intently into Professor Dumbledore's ear, who too had a frown on his face.

Harry turned to Saffron, Hermione and Ron looking horrified. That look alone was the final confirmation in what Saffron already knew. There was no way that Harry had put his name into the Goblet of Fire. It was impossible. This meant that someone else had put his name in that spelt a whole other kind of trouble that they were going to have to worry about in due time.

"I didn't put my name in," Harry said blankly. "You know I didn't."

"I know," replied Saffron breathlessly, as Hermione and Ron merely stared at Harry, utterly dumbfounded. "I know Harry, I---"

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore said much louder this time. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"

"Harry..." began Saffron, almost inaudibly, her face tensing and mouth wide open in shock. She didn't know what else to say all she knew was that she didn't want him going anywhere near that room. But it was out of her hands, as Hermione had given Harry a little push and he was walking slowly towards Professor Dumbledore.

It was then that the whispers began. All eyes were on Harry and each and every mouth was talking about him in outrage. Only a few Gryffindors seemed okay with it seeing as it meant they would have a champion but nobody else was quite as receptive. The teachers certainly were not receptive either. Professor Snape was glowering, Professors Flitwick and Sprout were whispering back and forth, Professor Moody was staring at Harry the whole way towards the entrance to the chamber and Hagrid looked like he had been petrified, as he sat still as a statue in his chair.

The second the door to the chamber closed, the protests began. 

"He's a cheat!" One student challenged aggressively. "He's not even seventeen!"

Numerous voices burst out sentiments all in agreement with the first person to yell out and Saffron felt sick to the stomach. 

Her sister and one of her best friends were competing in a tournament in which people had died in the past. No matter how certain people were that the Ministry would ensure that wasn't the case, something wasn't right here. Saffron didn't know what it was and none of it should have happened, but it did. Something she had previously learned was that nothing was a coincidence and things were correlated more often than not. This was no exception and Saffron's wishes for the year had manifested into creating a scenario in which they wouldn't come true.